A University Rivaled by Almost None

August 5, 2007

Cambridge, England

I woke up exhausted, but was really excited about going to Cambridge. Ali said it was prettier than Oxford, and I would have to concur. There is just something about its setting on the River Cam and the way that each college flows together. Today was sunny and clear again (we are talking Arizona skies here, folks), but It was a tad too warm. By midday the temperature was in the mid-eighties, and that is just far too high for any place in England, as far as I am concerned. It was a gorgeous day though, and after eating an Ostrich Burger (it was quite tasty!!) and exploring for awhile, we decided to go punting on the Backs (the area of the River Cam that many of the colleges’ backs are situated upon. We asked how late they would run the boats, and they said definitely until six or seven because of how nice it was outside, so we decided we would come back and do it. We went to the Fitzwilliam Museum, which had a fantastic collection of art and is home to the Book of the Dead. Because of the damage to the papyrus pages of the book, it will only be displayed to the public until September, and it was really neat, so I was glad that I got to see it.

We left the museum, explored a bit more, and then headed for the Backs. I am so glad we made the decision to go putting. It was beautiful. Our guide was friendly, and we got the chance to hear all about Cambridge’s lengthy history as we glided through the water, passing weeping willows and traveling beneath bridge after bridge (we passed beneath seven bridges both ways on the trip, and saw the mathematical bridge). We also got to see the area where much of the first Harry Potter movie was filmed (which was really neat to me, because I knew that bits of some of the movies were filmed at Oxford and Arundel Castle, but I never knew that any of the series was filmed at Cambridge.

After punting, we went to Sainsbury’s because we were all in desperate need of water. Then we went looking around in some local shops. After this, we decided that we wanted to try to go to the oldest pub in London, and tried to get on an earlier bus back. We sat in the park by the station, and just reveled in the glory of all that is Cambridge. We people watched, played a game of cards, then the bus came and we were able to board the 7 O’clock and head back to London. Cambridge was INCREDIBLE!!

Back in London, we discovered that those who had not gone to Cambridge did not feel like going out, and it was Allie’s and Freya’s last night in London, so we all just hung out at the dorm instead. We spent awhile in the kitchen, trying our hardest to eat up the rest of the pasta, snacks, and chocolate I had had in my room for so long. We did a pretty good job, and I figured that by the time I left I would not have too much food to leave behind. We stayed up talking and reminiscing over the past four weeks late into the night, and then parted our separate ways for bed. I took a long shower (I am going to miss the water pressure here pretty bad) and then went to bed.